Facts about holidaying
in Greenland (part 10/10)
Basic facts about Greenland
Updated February 1996
This information is provided by Greenland Tourism a/s, the official tourist board of Greenland
Geography
Geology
The fauna and flora
The language
Recent history
The population
Greenland Home Rule
The political parties
The municipalities
The villages
Greenland and the EU
Tourism
Trade and Industry
Religion
The old Danish names for the towns in Greenland
Greenland is the largest island in the world. Owing to its situation in the north, where the Atlantic meets the Arctic Ocean, Greenland is surrounded principally by cold ocean currents, so the coasts are constantly being cooled. This, together with the radiation of cold from the inland ice gives Greenland its arctic climate.
The ice-sheet or inland ice covers 1,833,900 sq.km - equal to 85% of Greenland's total area and extending 2,500 km north- south and up to 1,000 km east-west. At the center, the ice is anything up to 3 km thick and represents 10% of the world's total fresh-water reserves.
The ice-free area covers an expanse of 350,000 sq.km - corresponding to an area eight times the size of Denmark.
Approximately one-third of Greenland is national park. In 1974, 750,000 sq.km of North-East Greenland were listed and it is now the world's largest national park.
Greenland's geological history is the oldest in the world. Greenland is the site of the oldest rocks ever dated (3,700 million years). By way of comparison, the earth is reckoned to be 4,600 million years old.
It has been demonstrated that 75% of Greenland's subsoil, including the area beneath the inland ice, must be at least 1,600 million years old.
Greenlandic topology has been shaped by the glaciers of the ice age, but in several locations traces of geological processes have been found, such as earthquakes, formation of mountain ranges, volcanic activity, etc.
No great wonder, therefore, that Greenland is an eldorado for geology buffs.
The Greenlandic climate is arctic, but owing to the country's large landmass there are huge variations with regard to both humidity and temperature. Climatologically, a distinction is made between a northern high-arctic, middle low-arctic and southern subarctic zone.
The richest plant growth is found in the subarctic belt, which includes only the very southernmost part of Greenland. Here, there are low-lying tracts of forest with birch scrub, while in the low-arctic area one finds dense, tall willow scrub. In the high-arctic area, there is only low-lying vegetation of arctic willow, in addition to many expanses of moorland, marsh and ponds.
The greater part of Greenland, however, has highly varied mountain vegetation, reminiscent of the north Scandinavian one. In the driest inland areas, the vegetation is reminiscent of the vegetation to be found in the mountainous regions of central North America.
Because of the harsh climate, with drought in the high-arctic summer and freezing-over in the low-arctic winter, the number of Greenlandic terrestrial mammals is very limited. The stock consists of the polar bear, arctic wolf, arctic fox, ermine, lemming, musk ox, reindeer and alpine hare.
The Greenlandic ocean areas, on the other hand, are among the most fruitful in the world, thanks to large areas rich in nutrient salts, and none of the Greenlandic marine mammals, seals, whales or walrus are listed as endangered species.
Greenlandic is an Eskimo language quite unlike other languages. The Inuit peoples of Canada, USA and Russia speak varieties of a language that is quite similar, but no common written Eskimo language exists.
Compared with other Inuit in the Arctic, Greenland has a prolific range of literary works which is regularly consulted by the indigenous people.
Both the written and the spoken tongue have generally always been of great importance to the Greenlandic people, as their language has been a means of asserting their own identity.
West Greenlandic, as spoken in Sisimiut, Maniitsoq and the Nuuk area, is the official language of communication throughout Greenland.
East Greenlandic is very different from West Greenlandic, but most East Greenlanders understand West Greenlandic.
The same also applies in the Avanersuaq (Thule) district, where the dialect is completely different again.
In South Greenland and in the Upernavik district, West Greenlandic is spoken, but with an 'i' dialect, so that most u's turn into i's.
Most Greenlanders also speak Danish, and especially among the young people of the towns there are many who also speak English.
In 1721, with the aid of the Danish king, a Norwegian priest called Hans Egede successfully mounted an expedition to Greenland, where he wished to rechristianize the Northerners. At that time, no-one knew that they had long since disappeared. With good reason, the outcome was a Lutheran mission and trading post among the Greenlanders instead. Thus was ushered in the colonial age, which lasted until the constitutional amendment of 1953.
With this change in the constitution in 1953, Greenland became part of Denmark. The colonial age was at an end, and like the Faeroe Islands, Greenland too was now given two members in The Folketing (the Danish parliament).
As Danish citizens, the Greenlandic people now had ordinary civic rights and their general state of health and educational facilities were radically improved.
The total population is only 53,000 people. Approximately 45,000 are inuits, 8,000 are Europeans (Danes).
On May 1st 1979, Greenland was granted home rule within the Danish Commonwealth. The former National Council was abolished, creating instead the basis for a parliament proper, the Landsting. The Greenland Home Rule Parliament, as it is officially called, has policy-making authority and appoints a Landsstyre, the rough equivalent of a government.
There are elections to the Landsting at least every fourth year, and the Landsting consists today of 31 MPs spread over five political parties, representing all constituencies from north to east by power of the Election Act. The Landsstyre also elects its own officers, in the form of a Premier, prime minister, and a number of members of the Home Rule Government, who enjoy ministerial status.
The Greenland Home Rule has gradually assumed more and more areas of responsibility since 1979, and the Danish government thus has legislative competence only within foreign policy, defense, the judiciary and currency matters. Also, under the Danish constitution, Greenland is guaranteed two representatives in the Danish parliament, The Folketing.
This model of an evolutionary home rule has aroused great international interest, and amongst others the UN sees the "Greenlandic model" as a possibility in areas where there are clashes of interest between former colonial powers and colonies as well as in areas with minority conflicts.
Since the introduction of home rule in 1979, the majority party has been Siumut, meaning "forward". The country's historical background and the relative youth of the parties means that it is difficult to make comparisons with parties in western Europe. To a certain extent, however, Siumut can be likened to a social democratic party. The founders of the party in the 1970s were
amongst those who formulated the desire for greater autonomy in Greenland. In 1979, this wish led to the introduction of home rule, and the party has been in power ever since.
The second largest party is Atassut, meaning "solidarity" or "connection". The party can be characterized as a non-socialist or a liberal party which generally serves the interests of the business community. Atassut also aims to maintain close links with the rest of Denmark, and would like to see Greenland becoming an active member of the EU.
Inuit Ataqatigiit, meaning "Inuit unity" has, at times, formed a coalition government with Siumut. The party previously trod a firm Marxist line, striving for independence from Denmark and the establishment of an Inuit federation. As time has passed and home rule has continued to develop, bringing with it greater autonomy from Denmark, the party has taken a more pragmatic stand.
Two minor parties also have seats in the parliament: the Issitup Partiat or "Polar Party", and the Akulliit Partiat or "Center Party". Both are relatively young and in the center of the political spectrum. They act as a mouthpiece for the primary industries in Greenland, namely the professional fishermen and trappers.
After the last election in March 1995 Siumut and Atassut formed a majority coalition government, the "landsstyre".
Greenland is divided into 18 "kommuner" or municipalities whose structure consists of a town and a number of villages. The main town normally has the largest number of residents; by rough breakdown, these populations start at about 1,000 or more residents.
The municipalities vary greatly in size. For example, Upernavik Municipality in North Greenland is a geographically large area the size of Denmark, whereas Ivittuut Municipality is the smallest.
3 to 17 members sit on the municipal council. The number of members varies in the individual municipalities, depending on the size of the municipality.
The "bygder" or villages are the smallest settlements, being scattered around the municipalities. The population here is much smaller than in the towns - from 100 to over 600 residents. The basis of the villages' existence hinges almost everywhere on sealing, whaling and fishing. There are approx. 80 villages throughout Greenland, of which Upernavik Municipality in North Greenland has the greatest number - a total of 11.
In nearly all villages, a popularly elected village council is formed to take care of administering the jobs allocated to the village by the municipal council.
In the 1972 referendum, a majority voted against joining the EU, but owing to the election result in Denmark, Greenland ended up joining the Community all the same.
For a people whose economy and entire survival is inextricably caught up with the resources of the sea, it was untenable to have all administration managed from Europe. This groundswell of opinion generated a movement against EU membership and on February 1st 1985 - after the home rule system had been established - a referendum released Greenland from EU membership.
Greenland has chosen to commit itself to tourism as one of the country's mainstay industries. And with such magnificent natural scenery, a clean environment, an exciting culture and such potential for activity, Greenland will be an attractive travel destination in the years to come.
Various travel agencies - both in Denmark and abroad - organize package tours, e.g. hiking trips, sailing along the west coast, hunting and fishing expeditions, dog-sled riding, summer skiing and guided round trips.
Until now, the number of tourists has been severely limited on an annual basis - 5,000 in 1993, 10,000 in 1994 and 16.000 in 1995.
The Greenland Home Rule is now working towards a target of 60,000 tourists annually over the next 10 years.
Sealing, whaling and walrus hunting were once the mainstay of life for the Greenlandic population, and today these activities are still the only - or most important - source of income for approx. 2,500 people. The seal is the most important bagging animal, and most skins are processed at the Great Greenland tannery, which also manufactures sealskin furs for the domestic market and export.
In North and East Greenland particularly, sealing and hunting play a large role, just as traditional homecraft work is kept alive. It is important to realize that hunting is done for the sake of the meat. The sale of skins is only a by-product. That is also why hunting is practiced only on fully-grown animals in Greenland.
The fishing trade is modern-day Greenland's principal livelihood, and fish exports account for 85% of Greenland's total export of goods. The most important export markets are the EU and Japan. The name Royal Greenland is known to the great number of people who value clean, unpolluted fish products.
Sheep-farming and agriculture employ about 100 families in lush South Greenland.
There is no mining or extraction of resources currently going on in Greenland, but prospecting is under way for such interesting minerals as molybdenum, chromium, niobium and gold.
The Greenlandic church is part of the Danish "Folkekirken" or National Evangelical Lutheran Church. There are churches in all towns, while the villages have church halls in which services are held regularly, normally in Greenlandic. A number of other religious communities are also represented.
A visit to a Greenlandic church is a natural part of any stay in Greenland, and the local tourist offices can be of assistance if the church turns out to be locked.
Please be aware that throughout Greenland there is a general ban on taking photos in churches and church halls during religious services and other ministrations.
Qaanaaq: Thule
Pituffik: Thule Air Base
Upernavik: Upernavik
Uummannaq: Umanak
Qeqertarsuaq: Godhavn
Ilulissat: Jakobshavn
Qasigiannguit: Christianshåb
Aasiaat: Egedesminde
Kangaatsiaq: Kangatsiak
Kangerlussuaq: Søndre Strømfjord (US: Sondrestrom)
Sisimiut: Holsteinsborg
Maniitsoq: Sukkertoppen
Nuuk: Godthåb
Paamiut: Frederikshåb
Narsaq: Narsaq
Qaqortoq: Julianehåb
Ammassalik: Angmagssalik
Ittoqqortoormiit: Scoresbysund
Please note:
Qaanaaq is the name of the town, the municipality is called Avanersuaq.
Ammassalik is the name of the municipality, the town is called Tasiilaq.
All other municipalities carry the name of their town.
Map of Greenland
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(End of Facts about holidaying in Greenland)
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